


Catch a Falling Star

by IvanW



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Accusations, Explicit Sexual Content, Intrigue, Loyalty, M/M, Murder, Mystery, Post-Star Trek Beyond, Revenge, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-16 03:14:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29075409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IvanW/pseuds/IvanW
Summary: Catch a falling star an' put it in your pocket,Never let it fade away!Catch a falling star an' put it in your pocket,Save it for a rainy day!Jim's star is falling...can Spock catch it?
Relationships: James T. Kirk/Spock
Comments: 46
Kudos: 57





	1. A Birthday on Yorktown

**Author's Note:**

> This story is a rework of a story I had started and deleted. Some chapters will remain fairly close to the original and some will change.

“So I guess this is supposed to simulate moonlight,” Jim commented as he and Spock walked along a path on Yorktown.

“For what purpose?” Spock inquired, hands linked behind his back.

“To appear romantic I guess.” He shot a quick glance at Spock. “Not that we’re trying to be romantic or anything.”

Spock appeared to dismiss that bit of silliness without further thought. Jim didn’t blame him. It was a stupid thing to say.

“As this is a space station, there would be no moonlight, so to produce artificial moonlight for aesthetic purposes only is highly illogical.”

“Okay, Spock.”

“Furthermore I have never quite understood Terran fascination for moonlight. It is merely the reflection of light from the sun and there are no magical properties.”

Jim nodded wearily. “Okay, Spock.”

Why had he asked Spock to go for a walk with him anyway? Foolishness. Some birthday.

“Are you all right, Captain? You seem particularly out of sorts.”

“Just tired I guess. You can go back to doing whatever it was you were doing. Mission reports. Or-or, you know, socializing with Uhura.”

“Since you have just barely recovered from your recent engagement with Krall, I suspect you would benefit from additional respite.”

Jim sighed and stopped to lean against a pillar, gazing up at the artificial moonlight. “It’s just the last few hours of my birthday, I wanted a little walk. But I guess you’re right. Walking on Yorktown isn’t quite what it would be on Earth or some other similar planet.”

“What has happened to the doctor?”

And Jim tried not to think that Spock was attempting to push his pathetic captain off on Bones, but really, it did seem like that.

“Called away on a medical emergency. Really, Spock. It’s fine. You can go.”

Spock took half a step closer. “Does it hurt?”

Jim knew by the slight shift of Spock’s gaze toward his eye that he meant his black eye. “Just a little. I’ve had worse. How about you? How do you feel?”

“I am fully recovered.”

“I doubt that.”

“I assure you, Captain, I am functioning at optimal levels.”

He smiled a little. “That’s good to know.” He paused. “I think…I’m procrastinating, of course.”

“Procrastinating?”

“I need to call my mother. Today isn’t only my birthday.”

“I understand,” Spock said with a sharp nod. “Unfortunately, it is not something I can assist you with, Captain.”

“Yeah, I know.” He moistened his lips. “She cries. Even after all this time.”

Spock said nothing to that, he just looked vaguely uncomfortable. And who could blame him? So was Jim.

“I will leave you to it.”

Jim nodded and watched as Spock, shoulders stiff, began to walk away, away from the fake moonlit path. “Spock?”

He stopped. Turned. “Yes, Captain?”

“We’re-we’re friends, right?”

“Indeed.”

“Because lately, I don’t know, we seem to have drifted away from that a little.” And just then, Spock’s behavior was as cold as Iowa snow.

“Perhaps,” Spock acknowledged. “I apologize for my part in distancing us.” Jim could see the hesitation. “I had considered departing the Enterprise for New Vulcan. I thought perhaps it was best to pull back on our friendship. I apologize.”

This wasn’t really news he hadn’t heard. Not anymore anyway. Earlier that evening he’d spoken to Uhura who had confirmed Spock had intended to leave prior to the Altamid thing. Jim had, too, of course. 

“No, it’s all right.” He straightened from the pillar. “Just…I really don’t want to be alone right now, so, do you think, even though it’s fake and all, you might just walk a little further with me?”

For a moment, Jim was sure Spock would refuse his pathetic, whiny request. But then he returned to Jim’s side.

Spock gestured to the path. “Shall we?”

Jim smiled and fell into place next to his first officer.

****

“Spock, have you seen Jim?” Dr. McCoy approached as Spock headed into a lift to go back toward where the captain’s party had been held.

“Yes, doctor, he just went to his apartment to contact his mother,” Spock said.

McCoy frowned. “Oh. Well. I guess he’s going to want to be alone for that.” He stepped into the lift with Spock.

“The captain said you had a medical emergency?”

McCoy gave a dismissive snort. “Nah, it was nothing. Minor thing. Where you off to now? Back to the party? I think it’s still going on. Uhura’s there.”

Spock nodded. “Most likely that is where I will go.”

The lift opened and they got off.

“So, you two are back together then?”

“I am not quite certain,” Spock said honestly. “We have not had any meaningful discussion.”

“And what about New Vulcan? Changed your mind?”

“I have decided to stay with Starfleet.”

The doctor nodded. “Ever mention it to Jim?”

“Considering I have decided not to leave after all a discussion of that nature seemed moot.”

He smirked. “You were chicken.”

Spock raised a brow. “Doctor?”

“You were afraid of how he would react, so you decided to avoid telling him.”

“I am hardly afraid of the captain.”

McCoy rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean.”

Spock did not reply to that, but he did reply, “I had not prior to this evening. But I made reference to it tonight earlier, but he did not question me on it. He seemed aware of it.”

“Don’t look at me. My lips were sealed. Jim was gonna stay on Yorktown, though. He tell you that? Anyway, I guess I’ll go back to the party too. Think Jim’ll be back?”

Spock considered their captain’s mood, strange and rather off putting, and shook his head. “Doubtful.”

“That’s too bad.” They turned toward the entrance of the party and entered the room.

****

“Anyway, I guess I should let you go and stop being maudlin on your birthday.”

Jim heard the tears in her voice even if there were none visible on her face. “I can stay on for a little while longer.”

She waved that away. “I’m sure you have some celebrating to do. Did you put ice on that eye?”

“Bones checked it out. It’ll heal in a few days.”

She sniffed at that. “Goodnight, Jim. Contact me again soon, okay?”

He saw her wipe her eyes then. “All right, love you, Mom.”

“I love you, too. Happy Birthday.” 

Jim disconnected from his mother and held his head in his hands. No worse than usual, he guessed. Except that she had heard about his battle with Krall and spent a good deal of their time lecturing him on continuously endangering his life. Like he’d had a choice anyway.

He lowered his hands and glanced around his temporary apartment. They were pretty nice, really. Nicer than what he’d had on the Enterprise. The old one that he no longer had. They’d be rebuilding it and he’d been told there would be more luxurious crew’s quarters this time. Whatever that meant.

It reminded him of a room he’d had on Risa a year or so ago when he’d been on shore leave. Except in that room there was a giant hot tub Jim had enjoyed very much with two Risian females and one Risian male. Was it a year ago or more? He couldn’t quite recall.

Jim stood up and his stomach roiled. He put his hand on his stomach, feeling it grumble. It wasn’t related to hunger. He knew those feelings and this was not it.

“Fuck,” he groaned out loud. The room swam before his eyes. He’d obviously had more to drink than he realized. Usually it didn’t affect him this way. He took a couple of deep breaths, willing the weird pain in his stomach to go away and also the dizziness.

He took a step forward and landed on his knees. Sharply. Alcohol rose up, burning his esophagus. In the distance he heard the door to his room open.

“Bones?”

As far as he knew Bones was the only one who had access to his apartment here on Yorktown. And his best friend always had a sort of sixth sense when something was wrong with him.

“In here. I don’t feel so good.”

Someone appeared directly in front of him but with long, shapely feminine legs. Jim leaned back to look up at her, but she was a blur. Her uniform was red.

“Who are you?” he managed to gasp out, around the burn in his throat. He was feeling worse and he was pretty sure he was about to vomit. ‘

She said something but it sounded all distorted and warbled.

“Help-help me.”


	2. If I Ever Caused You Trouble

_“Do you remember me, Captain?”_

_“What?”_

_“The dance. Do you remember?”_

_“Dance? I don’t…”_

_“Try to remember. I can’t believe you forgot.”_

_“I’m sorry. Who did you say you were?”_

Pounding.

Was it his head? Why did it hurt so much?

Jim opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling. The Enterprise? No. No. The Enterprise had been destroyed by Krall’s drones.

_Yorktown_.

Yorktown’s day appeared to have started judging by the artificial light beaming into his room. He was in his bed, which was really odd, since he couldn’t recall how he got there.

There’d been…his birthday. A walk with Spock. A call to his mother.

Then…his stomach no longer hurt but he still felt a little off.

He sat up, noticing for the first time he was not alone in the bed when his foot brushed a leg. A woman lay next to him, her blonde hair spread out all over the pillow like a fan. The sheet was pulled up to her bare shoulder. There was something familiar about her too. But he could not place her.

What the fuck? He didn’t remember bringing anyone back to his room. But he also realized he had no clothes on, not even his boxer briefs, which he usually slept in. Jim had never blacked out after alcohol in his life.

He concentrated and seemed to remember a woman last night in a red dress. Security? Communications? Engineering?

“Um, Good morning?”

He put his hand on her shoulder and frowned when she felt ice cold. He shook her a little but nothing. No reaction. And his stomach suddenly felt sick again, this time with dread.

He lowered the sheet as he attempted to turn her over and that’s when he saw the dagger sticking through her chest, her green eyes staring straight ahead. Blood pooled under her where she’d lay.

“Christ!” Jim scrambled out of bed.

He did recognize her, too. Unfortunately. Ensign Rogers from the enterprise. He thought her first name was Anel.

The door to his room chimed.

Before he had time to react, it chimed again and then again in quick succession. He heard voices outside the door and then it burst open. Jim grabbed a pillow to hold over his crotch.

Four Yorktown security guards burst inside, followed by the manager of the building.

They all stared at Ensign Rogers lying dead in the bed.

“Captain Kirk?” one of them demanded.

“Yeah.”

“You’re going to have to come with us, sir.”

“Uh.”

“Get dressed, Captain. Now.”

****

Spock had risen early, went for a solitary walk, and then considered returning to his apartment for meditation. Before leaving the party the prior night, he had agreed to meet Nyota for breakfast, but there was still an entire hour before he was to meet her.

She’d wanted him to spend the night with her, but Spock had been unable to agree. Though he wished to maintain a friendship with her, he did not believe there was a way to go back to their prior relationship.

He’d seen the way her mouth had thinned last night when he had suggested breakfast, then as she kissed him on the cheek, the sadness there in her eyes. She suspected something he had yet to confirm.

It was as he was making his way to his Yorktown apartment, wondering how much time he would have for that meditation when his communicator beeped.

It was not like Spock to want to ignore the call, but on the other hand, he could not at least look to see who it was from.

He frowned slightly and flipped it open. “Captain?”

A long pause. He heard unfamiliar voices in the background.

“Captain?”

“Spock, I’m in trouble.”

“Where are you?” he asked, sharply, quickening his pace.

“My apartment. Security is here.”

“Starfleet?”

“Some and some Yorktown guys. Federation but not Starfleet. Scary looking guys.” Another long pause, and muffled voice. “I’m in the bathroom.”

“The bathroom?”

“Getting dressed. Spock, I think they’re going to arrest me.”

“Arrest?” His steps faltered. “I do not understand.”

“That makes two of us. There was this woman in my bed. Ensign Rogers.”

Spock’s blood ran cold at that, but he did not reply. Waited for Jim to continue.

“It’s not what you think. Spock, she’s dead. Stabbed. And they think—

“I am on my way. Say nothing until I get there. And do not allow them to take any evidence from your person before your legal representative is there.”

“They already took my clothes from last night.”

“I will be there shortly. Spock out.”

Spock stopped first at his own apartment where he had a terminal. He made immediate contact with his father.

Then he left to go to Jim’s apartment. He sent a message to McCoy.

_The captain is in trouble_


	3. Frenemy

“Come on out of there, Kirk.”

Jim grimaced, wiped his hand over his face. He looked like shit, he realized as he gazed at himself in the mirror. Worse, he was pretty sure that was a scratch mark on the right side of his jaw.

Banging on the door.

“I mean it, Captain. I’ll break the door down if I have to.”

He went to the door and opened it. “I’m in the bathroom getting dressed and there’s no window in here. Just what did you think I was going to do?”

The guard stared at him coldly. “I can’t take any chances. You have friends on Yorktown. They could transport you out. Get back into the main room and no funny business.”

He eyed the four guards. He knew their type. Big, beefy and bullies. He’d run into their sort at the bar in Riverside on the night he met Uhura and Pike. Guys like them had been picking fights with Jim his whole life, really. And there was no way Jim was ever going to stand down to those guys.

The one in charge, Jim guessed, was the one yelling at him being in the bathroom. His name tag read _Mick Baker_.

“So, we’re gonna take some DNA evidence and—”

Jim shook his head. “No, you aren’t.”

Baker glared. “You refusing?”

“That’s right. You get nothing from me until my legal representative arrives.”

“Sounds like maybe you got something to hide, _Captain_.” The derision in his tone was clear enough.

They’d blocked off the area where Jim’s bed had been. Where the body still lay in a pool of blood. Jim felt queasy.

“I guess we’d better just take you into custody now then.” He turned to one of the others. “Cuff him.”

“I’m clearly unarmed.”

“Nevertheless, you’ll be restrained.”

Jim had to fight with himself not to provoke this man. He could see in Baker’s eyes that he was looking for any excuse to beat the living crap out of Jim.

But it was on the tip of Jim’s tongue to bait him anyway.

He really wasn’t that way anymore. Only sometimes he was looking to go to that guy from Iowa with a giant chip on his shoulder. 

Jim stuck his hands out for the cuffs, aware that the guard was taking a rather menacing step toward him.

“Are you arresting me?”

Baker sneered. “Not officially. We’re taking you in for questioning. It’s up to those at HQ to formally charge you.”

The plastic restraints were snapped onto his wrists, none too gently, but Jim showed no reaction.

By the time they were yanking him toward the exit door of his apartment, Spock had not yet arrived.

He was shoved through the door so hard, Jim stumbled and fell to the ground on his knee. His knee slammed into the solid floor making him wince as it made a cracking noise.

“Such a klutz,” the guard who had shoved him said. He pulled Jim roughly to his feet “Try not to trip and fall again, Kirk.”

“Try not to shove me,” Jim snapped back.

Okay, he knew it was foolish. He couldn’t help himself, apparently.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing.”

The guard’s eyes, hard as flints, narrowed. “You’re just the sorta smarmy Starfleet officer that makes me wanna punch your face in.”

“There’s probably a law against that.”

“I could take my chances.” The guard pulled his arm back, as though about to throw a punch.

“Knock it off, Henderson,” Baker said, coming out of the apartment behind them. “Take him to HQ and stop messing around.”

Henderson shoved Jim down the corridor and toward the lift that would take them out of the building and presumably the headquarters for Yorktown security.

****

“I suppose they’ve read you your rights.”

Jim stiffened at the familiar voice. His whole body suddenly chilled and he had to struggle against an urge to shake. He turned from the window he had been gazing out in the isolated locked room they’d left him in at Yorktown Security.

He made himself speak calmly. “Gary.”

Gary Mitchell was handsome with a chiseled jaw. Clean cut, the perfect poster boy for Starfleet Academy. Dark hair now with a smattering of gray mixed in, that gave him a rather distinguished look, and charcoal gray eyes.

He wore the rank of Captain now, Jim noticed. Starfleet uniform, not Yorktown. 

Gary smiled, but it was not pleasant, merely…calculating. “Jim Kirk. It has been a long time.”

“Yeah. What are you doing here?”

“I’m now with SCIS.”

Starfleet Criminal Investigation Service.

Jim pursed his lips. Couldn’t be good.

“You’re stationed on Yorktown?”

“Right. I’m in charge of SCIS on Yorktown. Rank of Captain.”

“I see.”

Gary leaned against the nearest wall, crossing his arms in front of his chest. The picture of casual.

Jim was hardly fooled.

“I’m in charge of the investigation of the murder of Ensign Rogers.” Gary smirked. “I have to say, Jim. I never expected you to be so sloppy. The circumstantial evidence against you is overwhelming.”

“I didn’t kill her.”

“Captain Mitchell,” Spock spoke from the doorway of the room.

Gary turned to face Spock, straightening from the wall. “I would have expected you to contact your lap dog.”

“Captain Kirk has been released into my custody,” Spock said, coolly. “Come, Captain.”

“Who authorized that?” Gary demanded. “I’m in charge of this investigation.”

“Commodore Paris actually.”

Gary glanced toward Jim. “Your heroism in saving Yorktown won’t help you to get away with the rape and murder of an innocent young woman, Jim.”

Jim barely refrained from blanching at the accusation of rape. Spock put his hand on the sleeve of Jim’s shirt and urged him toward the exit.

“I still need to question him. Get physical evidence from him to match against the crime scene.”

“Not without counsel from his legal representative,” Spock said.

“And who would that be?” Gary asked.

“Ambassador Sarek. He is on his way to Yorktown now.”

“Your father? He hasn’t practiced Federation Law for decades,” Gary protested.

“He has kept up with all the requirements for the position.”

Gary’s jaw tightened. “I’ll see you soon, Jim. I’m going to see you go down for this. Just as you deserve.”

Jim exchanged a look with Spock which he knew was designed to get him not to react to Gary’s taunting. But damn, it was hard. He looked away and allowed Spock to take him from the Security building.


End file.
